During a recent operation, U.S. Marshalls preparing to arrest a drug trafficking fugitive in Missouri were hit with a last minute snag due to a new state law designed to protect gun rights, CNN reports.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed the Second Amendment Preservation Act into law in June. The law "prohibits state and local cooperation with federal officials that attempt to enforce any laws, rules, orders, or actions that violate the Second Amendment rights of Missourians."
"This is a stupid, dangerous and unconstitutional law," Missouri state Sen. Lauren Arthur (D) said earlier this year.
Law enforcement officials told CNN that local officials in Cape Girardeau decided their officers couldn't assist federal authorities due to the chance that the fugitive had a gun in his home.
As CNN points out, the operation ultimately went forward, "but the episode is one of several that federal agents have encountered in Missouri because local authorities are worried about running afoul of the state law."
"The city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jackson County filed a lawsuit in June to block enforcement of the law that's set to go into effect on Saturday. The Justice Department submitted a statement of interest earlier this month in support of the lawsuit. The Justice Department said Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green could rule on the lawsuit as soon as this week," CNN's Emma Tucker and Evan Perez write. "Most of the conflicts raised by the law have come in operations involving the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which enforces gun laws, according to Justice Department officials."
Federal law enforcement officials say that the law is hurting efforts to fight rising crime in Missouri, as well as other states around the country.
Read the full report over at CNN.
